Adaptation
by JuniperGentle
Summary: Sometimes Ray had good ideas. Sometimes he had bad ideas. And sometimes the ideas were just plain silly. Not that Max cared. This one looked like a lot of fun... if only he could persuade Draciel to join in. Now complete.
1. A Very Adaptable Bit-Beast

_This idea was triggered by a conversation between me and my brother_ The Muse Of Insanity _concerning a character we call DrigerSHINY! - the silver form of Driger who appears in the Eurotunnel against the werewolf bit-beast in the first series. It is one of the sillier ideas that appears in that arc, I must admit, and yes we had far too much fun taking it much too far. You can probably guess how the conversation went..._

 _And so I don't really need to tell you that this is COMPLETE CRACK._

* * *

 **Chapter 1 – A Very Adaptable Bit-beast**

Max swung himself through the door of the dojo only to come to a complete stop at the sight before him. Ray was seated cross-legged on the floor, his eyes closed and Driger spinning steadily in front of him. Above the blade, the huge form of Ray's beloved bit-beast crouched, tail incessantly flicking from side to side.

But there was something strange about the White Tiger. It took Max a few moments of staring to work it out.

"Ray?" he said slowly. "Um, why is Driger red?"

"No reason," Ray replied calmly. "Driger, _Gatling Claw!_ "

The tiger roared, the sound ringing around the wood-panelled room, and struck out at one of the upright posts. Max tensed, expecting Driger's impressive claws to shear straight through the wood (goodness only knew what Grampa Granger would think of that). But to his utter shock, Driger's paw struck the wood -

 _and bounced off._

"Huh?"

"Yes!" Ray exclaimed. "I thought it would work!"

" _What?_ " Max spluttered, watching as Driger happily bounced away, ricochetting off of the walls and generally behaving like a bouncy ball. "Ray, what did you do to him?"

Ray had the decency to look a bit sheepish. "I... um, you remember when we were fighting the Dark Bladers in the Eurotunnel? Back... oh, three years ago?"

"When we got stuck in Southampton and Tyson decided to go around Europe for practice after running into Robert and Cenotaph?"

"Yeah, there. Um... you remember how I fought Lupinex and Wolfstorm? I put that silver coin on the top of Driger's bit-chip, and he came out all silvery." Ray gestured to his still-spinning blade. "I was just wondering if that would work with other things. I've got a whole list of things I want to try."

Max took a closer look at the blade. It was difficult to see exactly what was happening as it was still spinning, but there was definitely something red on top of Driger's bit-chip. "Ray? Did... did you put _rubber_ on top of Driger?"

Ray's grin was infectious. "Yep. Look how happy he is!"

Ray had a point. The bit-beast looked more than content to bounce around the room, his tail flicking happily even as he rebounded off the back wall.

"So what's the reason for rubber?" Max asked, seating himself next to his friend.

"Defence," Ray explained, ducking as Driger sailed over his head. "An attack won't do anything to a rubber bit-beast – it would bounce right off."

"But you can't attack either," Max pointed out. "I saw what happened when you tried to hit the post."

"Um," said Ray. "I'm still working on that. Don't tell Kai or Gramps, please?"

Max grinned at him "Oh, don't worry about that," he reassured him, and fished Draciel out of his pocket. "Can I help?"

* * *

 _I **live** in Southampton. You have **no idea** how excited I got when Beyblade decided to bring the Blade-breakers there for an episode, especially as I was ten at the time._

 _Wow, that was a long time ago..._

 _On that note, though, the geography of that episode is WAY off. It is impossible for the ship to be passing into Southampton going towards Russia from America and to have already passed the White Cliffs of Dover. Dover is between Southampton and Russia – they would have to have doubled back, which is very silly. You fail British geography forever, Beyblade. Or maybe just Kenny._


	2. Build It Up With Silver And Gold

**Chapter 2 – Build It Up With Silver And Gold**

"Will this one do?"

"It's about the right size... but is it going to work with a ring? I mean, what if Driger comes out just with gold hoops?"

"Then he will be wearing earrings and I will never let you live it down."

"Max!"

"Shh! What if someone hears us?"

The two plotters froze, listening carefully for any sign of someone approaching their hideout in the dojo. After a long pause, Ray shook his head. "I think we're okay," he whispered. "Come on, let's just get this over with."

"Me first," Max insisted. "You had first go last time, I want a go."

"It _was_ my idea," Ray pointed out, then shrugged. "Go ahead. I want to see Draciel with bracelets."

"Shut up," Max sighed, and carefully pressed the gold ring onto the bit chip. It made a rather satisfying _click_ , which at least reassured the two bladers that it was not going to fly off at extreme velocity, possibly causing more damage to the dojo than even Tyson's first launch with Dragoon Metal Storm had. "You're certain that it's reversible?"

Ray rolled his eyes. "Max, you battled Driger this morning. Was he red and bouncy?"

"No," admitted Max. "Sorry. I'm being a bit paranoid."

"You _have_ just stolen one of Hilary's rings. I think paranoia is justified."

Still looking somewhat hesitant, Max locked Draciel into the launcher and took a deep breath. "Here goes, then. Let it rip! Go Draciel!"

The tortoise sprang upwards from his blade, black jaws agape as he roared defiance of any who would challenge his master. His shell glittered with the water he wielded as both weapon and shield. He was magnificent, a mountain of a beast, immovable, untouchable, mighty.

Ray took one look at him, then curled up into a little ball on the floor of the dojo and _howled_ with laughter.

"Ray, _shut up!_ "

"He - he, hahahaha, Max, he – hahahahahaha – _he's got a halo!_ "

Around the top of Draciel's head, a slender band of gold spun gently, not quite touching the tortoise's skin. Other than that, the gold ring had made no effect on Draciel at all. Max covered his eyes as Draciel turned to look quizzically at him.

"Draciel, just... just go back, please. I'm sorry, I... just go, Draciel."

Bit-beasts were not usually given to emotions, but there was no mistaking the disapproving glare that Draciel gave Max as he swirled back into his blade. Ray's hysterical laughter had yet to stop, and Max kicked him lightly in the shin as his green blade darted back to his hand. "Shhh," he hissed. "Do you _want_ Hilary to come and find out what we're doing?"

That shut Ray up.


	3. A Woolly Situation

_A bit short, but I like it..._

* * *

 **Chapter 3 – A Woolly Situation**

"Oh."

"Yes, that's right, Max. _Oh."_

"Um, if it helps, Draciel looks like a drowned sheep."

"It doesn't really help, but thanks anyway."

"Yeah. Using Aqua Shield really wasn't my cleverest idea."

"You're talking to the man whose bit-beast now looks like a fluffball. Let's just assume that this was a really bad idea and never touch it again?"

Max nodded, eyes wide and only barely hiding the laughter at the back of them. "Lightning and cotton wool were never going to be a good mix."

Ray sighed and called his beyblade back to him, grimacing as the static-filled clump of cotton wool immediately clung to his fingers. "I _hate_ this stuff."

"Seconded. Here, let me help you get it – aaaaahhhh, now it's stuck to me too!"

Drowned-sheep Draciel looked down at his master and his master's friend and sighed to himself. They never learned, these little humans he and his companions loved and fought for so fiercely. But that was part of the reason why he refused to leave, not matter what happened.

Someone had to be the sensible one, and it certainly wasn't his Max.


	4. Shine Bright Like A Diamond

**Chapter 4 – Shine Bright Like A Diamond**

 _Crash!_

Max reeled backwards as his bit-beast collided with Ray's. Shatters of light spun around the room in a dizzying explosion, so bright that Ray had to shield his eyes.

"Whoa," said Max as the light and noise died down. "That was... impressive."

"You can say that again," Ray breathed, staring at his glittering bit-beast in awe. "I mean, I know that diamond is the hardest substance on earth, but _that_ was something else. I've never seen something throw Draciel backwards like that."

"It's the old thing of an unstoppable force against a – well, a not-quite immovable object in our case," Max said. "They just bounced off each other. Any ordinary bit-beast would have been shredded."

Ray's grin crept up from his mouth to his eyes. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"I should be going back to my captain's room to return his property, then reporting to the garden for five hundred practice launches as punishment for breaking and entering, followed by three hundred lengths of the beach for stealing?"

Max's expression froze, and he turned around very slowly to look up into the eyes of a scowling Kai Hiwatari.

"It was nothing to do with me," Ray chirruped happily. "Max's idea!"

"You took my best pair of cuff-links and put them on your bit-chips. My _best pair of cuff-links._ "

"Well, it worked, right?" Max shrugged, avoiding looking directly at his captain. "Now we've got diamond-plated bit-beasts. There isn't an attack in the world that can hurt us!"

Kai's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Your bit-beasts maybe invulnerable, but _you_ are another matter entirely. I'm sure I can find an attack capable of destroying _both_ of you if you don't give my cuff-links back."

"Don't you want to find out what diamond-plated Dranzer would look like?" Max asked, reluctantly recalling his blade before Kai could make good on his threat.

"No. I'm confident enough in Dranzer's abilities that I don't need to augment his strength with illicit substances."

Max spluttered. "Wait, _illicit substances_? You make it sound like we're giving our bit-beasts steroids!"

"Ooh, that's a good -"

"Shut up, Ray."

Kai raised an eyebrow. "You realise that none of these materials are permitted in the dish? That makes them illegal. You can't use them in competition."

Ray smiled. Smiling sometimes kept you on Kai's good side (sometimes). "It would be a shock for Tyson, though, wouldn't it? Might stop all that 'I'm the one who took BEGA down' stuff?"

The other eyebrow crept upwards. "Whilst I agree that Tyson's ego does need regular puncturing, first of all he _was_ the one who took BEGA down – _do not tell him that I said that -_ and secondly _do not_ go giving him ideas. If Tyson decided it would be a good idea to coat Dragoon in epoxy resin, we would have no end of trouble."

Ray went pale. "Ah. Point taken."

" _We_ could try epoxy resin," Max said thoughtfully, only to have the full force of Kai's stare meet his eyes. "Ooooor we could not and we could go and put your cufflinks back right now come on Ray _run!_ "


	5. A Wooden Response

_To all who reviewed since the last chapter went up – I am really sorry I didn't get around to sending you all my usual PMs to thank you/talk to you about your questions. I have been extremely busy with my course and the need to do so completely slipped my mind. Rest assured, I got them all and they made me very happy!_

* * *

 **Chapter 5 – A Wooden Response**

"Who said this was a good idea?"

"You, actually, Ray. 'Oh, if he was made of wood then he'd be really good at defence and he could still attack because don't splinters hurt like anything when you get them?'"

Ray's shoulders slumped a little as he cradled his blade close to him. "I wasn't expecting Kai to go all Blazing Gig on him and set him on fire."

"That's what _happens_ to wood," Kai informed him frostily, all folded arms and deep, dark scowl as he stood in the middle of the dojo, looking down at the two miscreants. "It burns. Perhaps now you'll reconsider this whole idea?"

Ray scowled. "But how come Driger never catches fire when he's just in normal form? You'd think that fur would burn as easily as wood, wouldn't you?"

"Maybe because it's technically his spirit-form then?" Max suggested. "I don't know. Is he alright?"

"He will be," Ray sighed, opening his hand to check on his bit-beast. Driger looked up at him from the bit-chip, tilting his head to one side and swishing his tail. He seemed to be fine now that the wooden cover had been removed – still smoking gently – from on top of the chip. "But we can cross wood off of the list of good ideas."

"I liked the wooden armour, though," Max said thoughtfully. "It looked really good. Different to the metal stuff, though – kind of more boxy, a bit like Draciel's shell."

"Because aesthetic is _always_ better than practicality," Kai muttered to himself. He was beginning to despair of the pair of them. Actually, that was a lie – he'd been despairing of them for several days now, but not to quite this extent. "Exactly how many more of these wonderful ideas are you going to have, hmm?"


	6. Time To Leaf

_I apologise, it appears that my chapter titles are slowly becoming a series of increasingly-bad puns._

* * *

 **Chapter 6 – Time to Leaf**

"No, no, no, no, no, _no._ I – just _no._ Max, what were you _thinking?_ "

Max's grin was just a little on the side of uneasy. "Um, sorry?"

Ray covered his face as his bit-beast nudged him gently with a soft green nose. "You turned the White Tiger into a bush, Max. A _bush._ "

"I thought he'd at least get thorns, okay?" Max protested. "That's why I picked a rose-bush."

Ray sighed, raising one hand to stroke Driger's leafy side. The tiger-shaped bush purred loudly, wrapping a long, vine-like tail around his master. "At least it's reversible, that's all I can say."

Quietly, he ordered Driger back to his blade, and then recalled the blade to his hand, pulling the small circle of leaf away from the bit-chip. "I think Kai is right, we're not actually improving our bit-beasts at all here. Maybe we should consider stopping soon – I mean, we're running out of options." He dropped the leaf piece off the edge of the patio and watched a breeze skip it away. "I don't want a topiary tiger again."

"It's not like I got away with anything," Max muttered, copying him. "Draciel's wearing a flower-skirt."


	7. Snow Rest For The Wicked

_Totally didn't forget that I hadn't actually uploaded this. Nope. Never. What are you talking about? *innocent whistle*_

* * *

 **Chapter 7 – Snow Rest For The Wicked**

The light was strange, almost bluish when Max opened his eyes, and it took a very long moment for his sleepy brain to figure out what was wrong.

"Snow!" Tyson carolled, barrelling through the door. "Maxie, wake up, it's snowed, it's white _everywhere_ , come on, come on, come _on!_ "

Max stared at him as he tried to wake himself up by sheer force of will. "Snow?" he asked blankly.

"Yeah!" Tyson grinned. "Come on, it's _awesome!_ "

The garden looked completely different, hidden under a thick sheet of white. Max could only just tell where the beydish was by the slight slope of the snow where it should have been.

"Snow?" Ray asked, coming out of the house and immediately wrapping his arms around himself for warmth. "Wow! It's really deep!"

And with that, he jumped down into the garden, feet immediately disappearing under the snow.

"Don't fall in the beydish," said a voice from just behind Max's left shoulder. Even a year or so ago, this might have scared Max out of his skin; now, with months of living with or close to Kai under his belt, he barely flinched.

"I won't," Ray promised, feet crunching through the snow as he made his way over to where the dish was. "I wonder if we can have battles on the snow?"  
Kai shrugged. "There's a knack to it."

 _Of course,_ thought Max. _He trained in the Arctic for the World Championships, of course Kai can fight on snow._

"I'm first!" Tyson immediately volunteered,

"TYSON!"

That really did make Max jump. Grampa G was _loud_ when he wanted to be. Tyson's shoulders slumped.

"What is it, Gramps?"

"Tyson my man, you ain't tryin' ta goof off while there's chores to do, are ya? There's a shovel with your name on it and a whole heap of snow in the front yard to clear!"

" _One_ match, Gramps, _pleeeease?_ "

"Nope! If you and your homies want food tonight I need to go shopping, and I can't do that if there's snow all over the place!"

"But _Grampa..._ " But nevertheless, Tyson slipped Dragoon back into his pocket and went inside.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Ray asked, a sly grin appearing on his face. Max blinked at him, still a little too sleepy to follow Ray's lightning-quick brain.

"Snowball fight?" he asked cautiously. Ray just laughed.

"Hold out your bey." And with suspicious glee, Ray dumped a handful of snow on top of Max's beyblade.

Kai groaned. "Have you two still not given up on this stupid thing of yours?" he asked, but Ray ignored him.

"Go on!" he urged Max. "This I _have_ to see."

Ignoring Kai's rolled eyes to his left, and carefully making sure that Tyson was still in the house, Max clipped Draciel into the launcher. The metal blade was freezing against his fingers.

"Let it rip!"

Draciel soared out of his blade within seconds of the tip hitting the ground, strong, immovable, and to Max's astonishment, made of pure ice.

"Whoa!" Ray exclaimed, eyes lighting up. "That's so cool! Er, literally!"

Max stared at his bit-beast in awe. "Someone battle me," he breathed. "I really want to see what Ice Draciel can do."

From his left, Max heard a heavy sigh and then the unmistakable _click_ of a beyblade slotting into its launcher. A sense of dread flooded him just a second too late.

"Kai, wait... Kai, _no!"_

"BLAZING GIG!"

"AQUA SHIELD!"

"AAHHH! HELP!"

.

"Okay, we are never, ever, _ever_ doing that again," Ray muttered. Max nodded fervently. The flood from the melting of snow-Draciel as he was struck by the full force of Blazing Gig had only avoided destroying the garden by dint of the fact that most of the garden was protected by the blanket of snow. Ray had been less lucky, and was still shaking water from his hair. All in all, the final bit-beast transformation had been somewhat of a disaster.

Tyson just looked confused.

Kai just grinned.

.

FIN


End file.
